On Friday, I noticed that Skipper was starting to swell on his neck just in front of his shoulder. It starting getting worse on Saturday and by Sunday, it was bigger. I don't have any antibiotics for one and for two, I don't like giving antibiotics without knowing what kind of infection we're dealing with. He is eating normally and has normal activity. I called the vet yesterday and they saw him this afternoon.
They aspirated a small amount of it, just enough to identify it and decided that it needs to be lanced, drained and flushed. We're having that done tomorrow under sedation. Depending on what they find and how much is in there, he might have a drain tube put in. He's on Enrofloaxin twice a day for 7 days and the wound care should be relatively easy unless he has a drain tube. Then it'll be a little more complicated. In the meantime, his appetite is fine, which is good. He'll need all of the nutrients he can get.
Subcutaneous Abscess
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Talishan
- You can quote me
Sounds like a plan. Good luck to you and Skipper!
If they put a drain tube in, you'll still need to flush around it. This sounds difficult but is actually pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it. See if your vet will give you a curved-tip syringe (if you don't already have one). They make it vastly easier.
Best wishes and blessings to him and to you!
If they put a drain tube in, you'll still need to flush around it. This sounds difficult but is actually pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it. See if your vet will give you a curved-tip syringe (if you don't already have one). They make it vastly easier.
Best wishes and blessings to him and to you!
Skipper made it through surgery. Still very groggy, but Dr Hardy says he'll be ok. They drained a lot of nastiness out of there. There was no sac, just the abscess. He's got a drain tube. I have to flush it twice a day for 5 days with the Chlorhexidine solution they gave me. He goes back in on Monday to get the drain tube and stitches removed. Continue the antibiotics and normal diet.
Skipper isn't doing as bad as I feared he would after surgery at the age of 6. He is eating. Pellets and veggies mostly with an occasional hay nibble. I expect that his appetite will pick up gradually. He's still a little slow, but that probably has more to do with the tube sticking out of his wound than the gas they used to sedate him.
This is him in his carrier at the vet waiting for his procedure. He was quite lively and eating a few shredded carrots. You can clearly see the swelling from his abscess on the left side of his neck.
Here's the surgery site. You can see the tube. Nothing is draining out of it yet. He's due for his first flush in about 2 hours from the time of this post. Not looking forward to 5 days of that twice a day. He probably already hates everyone because of his surgery. Now he gets a syringe of antibiotics and another one full of blue junk injected into his wound. Poor little man. Giving him lots of extra love and attention.
This is him in his carrier at the vet waiting for his procedure. He was quite lively and eating a few shredded carrots. You can clearly see the swelling from his abscess on the left side of his neck.
Here's the surgery site. You can see the tube. Nothing is draining out of it yet. He's due for his first flush in about 2 hours from the time of this post. Not looking forward to 5 days of that twice a day. He probably already hates everyone because of his surgery. Now he gets a syringe of antibiotics and another one full of blue junk injected into his wound. Poor little man. Giving him lots of extra love and attention.
There's always treats, but when I have to put one of my guinea pigs through something like that, there's extra treats. For Skipper there's really nice hand picked grass by the handful. Last night's flush went well. Nothing was flushed out. He really didn't like that and gave me the guinea pig glare from inside his tunnel afterwards. Same this morning with the flush. The glare turned into a pouty look. I think he knows how terrible I feel having to do that to him so he's playing with my emotions. Of course it works every time. At least he likes the flavoring they added to his antibiotic, so getting him to take that is easy.
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Lynx
- Resist!!!
Sounds like he's doing well. I imagine you are weighing daily to make sure he's eating?
Did the vet ever mention the possibility of cervical lymphadenitis?
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/view ... 439#160439
Did the vet ever mention the possibility of cervical lymphadenitis?
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/view ... 439#160439
He didn't, but I'm taking Skipper in for followup and suture/tube removal, so I'll ask him if he took a culture of what he drained out. It was mostly fluid with a couple of small "chunks" (their words). Not sure if that means anything. Skipper's incisions have closed up to the point that I can't get any of the flush in there, so I'll be flushing the outside of it as best as I can. It still looks pretty clean and he's still on the antibiotic. He's eating well and getting around pretty well, so that's encouraging.
Took Skipper to the vet today for suture and tube removal. His wound was flushed and it’s all clean. One more day of antibiotics and that's done. He's eating pretty much normally now. I'd like to see him eat more hay, but otherwise good. He's gone from 909 grams to 998 grams. At the age of 6 years, I don't expect he'll get back to the 1200 he used to weigh. As long as he's lively and eating, I'm not too worried. Still keeping a sharp eye on him.
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